The Art of The Leisurely Breakfast

A leisurely breakfast has become a relic of by-gone days I’m afraid. I had no idea how much our family rushed through breakfast on the way to our various pursuits…until my DIL’s father from Germany, Klaus, came to stay with us for a week. Talk about ‘culture shock’!

Klaus made these waffles for our whole family for New Year's Breakfast...during our stay with him in Germany.Delicious...and Lovely!

There was just a wee bit of tension at first because our cultural lines were seriously ‘crossed’. Germans make LOVELY breakfasts…with hard rolls of several styles…a variety of thin sliced deli meats (quite different from our American ones—think prosciutto)..cheeses…chocolate sauce, jelly, or butter…

Or perhaps you’d also like some scrambled eggs on a piece of toast…juice (fresh squeezed only!) , and your choice of tea, coffee, and would you like ‘milch’ with your coffee? Yes..’bitte’ (please).

And all of this is served in the loveliest china on a table covered in a delicate tablecloth. (As you can see, our white linen tablecloth didn’t survive the dinner the night before. :o))

And for a special treat..how about a ‘berliner’? (jelly filled donut)..they tasted heavenly! After several days of tension where I was putting all my energy into dinner like any good Southern hostess…and getting stressed by how much time and energy breakfast was taking, my dear patient DIL..assured me…her father NEVER ate dinner and hoped I wouldn’t mind him not eating…but he would love a bigger breakfast!

Klaus later told me, "Our breakfast always takes AT LEAST an hour! " I was dumbstruck by the idea. It was so hard to wrap my mind around the idea. If you could transfer the desire to nibble and chat away the hour from evening and DINNER to BREAKFAST in the morning, then you would get the idea of what he wanted. It makes sense to me, now, when I look at it that way..but it was such a different perspective from our American habit of gulping down a latte and grabbing a danish on your way out the door to class…work…or shopping.

A leisurely breakfast..is a treat. I now know that. :o) But it took a foreigner (now a good friend and family member) to teach me this. Klaus’s motto is “Eat like a King in the morning..and a peasant at night.” I would say that makes a lot of sense. I’ve never seen any one in better shape than him. Of course his bike is his only form of transportation which probably helps too. :o)

When Rebekah’s friend, Kaylene, came to stay for a couple of days over spring break, I took a little extra trouble one morning to make them a nice breakfast while they slept in. It’s such a treat to do this for visiting friends or family. I’ve learned to enjoy mornings like these.

The coffee press was used for the first time, as I had envisioned it at Christmas, to serve coffee almost as elegantly as tea. Isn’t my pot so pretty? And the coffee tasted just perfect!

Dear Hubby gave me these beautiful flowers which went so well with our cheery breakfast. The orange juice is especially for him since he doesn’t care for coffee and it was too warm for hot chocolate. He’s strictly a cereal guy..but loves for me to make sausage to go with his breakfast. credit

We, girls (yes..me too!)..had a lovely morning tea..all three of us… They seemed delighted when they discovered I had made them such a special breakfast…and I even sliced them a bowl of mangos. (They like them…I don’t. :o) I can’t think of a more pleasant way to spend a morning. Can you? This week, why don’t you pick a morning to treat your family. It’s a great way to say, “I love you”.

Note to My Readers: Fun News! My three grandchildren, children of my son, Matthew, the Marine, and his wife Amanda, are here with their mother for a week long visit! We've already had so much fun in just one day. There's no telling what adventures the week will hold for us! I will reply as soon as I can to your lovely comments but if my posts are a little late coming or my replies.. well..I think you get the picture..Ha! I've sort of pre-organized and written several posts for this week. They only need a bit of 'linking'. But the kiddos will be the priority. :o) I'll be putting up photos of our adventures on my Comin' Home Facebook page if you'd like to see a little peek at my cutie pies. :o)

Coming this Week...

Never to Young to Learn Something New...for Tuesday Tea

Nature's Surprises!

Five Kitchen Tested Crockpot Recipes (sorry they didn't make it in last week :o)

9 comments:

That's so very European. They know how to savour life over there. Danny, my hubby, is Croatian and that's how they do things over there. Life revolves around people and food. That's how it should be. It's a simple, less stressful way of living.I'm a shocker at the breakfast thing. I make the kids eat theirs while I'm quickly making school lunches and downing my instant coffee, then it's out the door without a skerick of food in my tummy.Btw, that jam donut looks YUM!xx

I have learned to this now and then and it is wonderful. It is a European thing for sure! A host family we stayed with in Austin during a debate tournament had lived most of their life in Turkey and made us a Turkish breakfast. It was the same thing..lots of delicate foods and leisurely conversation. They liked granola with yogurt in particular. :o)

I can't imagine being able to have the time to do this with my husband going off to work so early. It does sound wonderful, though. Maybe I can do this from time to time. I've got my baby bump pictures up on the blog now and my thoughts on being pregnant at 46.

Wonderful post Donna. My hubbub was definitely 'culture shocked when he went over to Germany too! It is completely different. It does make a lot of sense as Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day (or so they say)! We love our weekend breakfasts of pancakes, bacon and eggs and orange juice. Great family time.Hugs and enjoy your visits!

Oh, if only we could all live that way! Perhaps, by starting our day with family, food, and relaxing with conversation before the "dash" begins, we could learn how to slow it down during the day, also. I find that even with my husband and I living in retirement, we are always busy. It is time to "smell the roses" and thanks for reminding me of this!

Welcome to Comin' Home! If you lived nearby, I'd invite you over to my neck of the woods for a nice long chat and a cup of tea out on the deck. But since we can't do that, I hope you'll stay and look around. I love learning new things and sharing what I learn with friends. Comin' Home is where I share tips from my many projects. Let's have some fun together! XO Donna